Ottapathu wins Choppies battle

Suspended Choppies CEO Ram Ottapathu has wrested control of the board of the budget retail group, following an extraordinary meeting of shareholders.

Suspended Choppies CEO Ram Ottapathu has wrested control of the board of the budget retail group, following an extraordinary meeting of shareholders in Gaborone on Wednesday.

Shareholders voted to oust almost all the former board members, who had pitted themselves against Ottapathu after a series of investigations into business practices at the retailer.

Ottapathu, who owns a 19.53% share in Choppies, was due to face disciplinary proceedings at the end of September following two investigations into Choppies’ affairs: a legal report done by the Desai Law Group and a forensic investigation done by advisory group EY.

Shareholders voted to reappoint Ottapathu as a director, as well as back a number of candidates he had nominated to the board ahead of the extraordinary general meeting, including former Astral Foods financial director Tom Pritchard and investment and finance professional Carol-Jean Harward.

The new board also includes Choppies founder and executive deputy chair Farouk Ismail.

The ousted former board members include Wilfred Mpai, Dorcas Kgosietsile and Heinrich Stander. In a Sens announcement on Friday the company said Stander, the group CFO, had resigned following the extraordinary general meeting. The board would meet again on Monday to appoint a new CFO.

In response to questions regarding what this will mean for Ottapathu’s disciplinary process and his suspension as CEO, the company said it was unable to respond pending the meeting of the new board.

The company, which has operations in SA, Zimbabwe and Botswana, was unable to release its 2018 financial results after PwC began “reassessing a number of past accounting practices and policies”. Its shares on the Botswana and Johannesburg bourses have been suspended.